Divine Speech Purifies Creation

במדרש מי יתן טהור מטמא לא אחד כו' מי צוה כן מי גזר כן כו' אמרות ה' אמרות טהורות

In the Midrash: "Who can produce a pure thing from an impure one? Is it not the One?" and so on — "Who commanded thus? Who decreed thus?" and so on — "The words of Hashem are pure words" (Tehillim 12:7).

The Sfas Emes opens with the Midrash on the verse "the words of Hashem are pure words," which links the wonder of purity emerging from impurity to the question of Who commands and Who decrees in the world.

כו'

And so on.

This marks the continuation of the Midrash's words, which he will now explain.

ודאי לא בא הכתוב לומר שגוף המאמר טהור כי הקב"ה טהור ומשרתיו טהורים

Certainly the verse does not come to tell us that the substance of the utterance is pure — for the Holy One, Blessed is He, is pure and His attendants are pure.

He clarifies that the verse cannot mean that Hashem's speech is intrinsically "pure" in some descriptive sense, since it is obvious that Hashem and His heavenly attendants are pure — that would teach us nothing.

רק הפי' שמאמרו ית' מטהר האדם כמ"ש לא פרה מטהר רק חקה חקקתי כו' כי [מאמר השי"ת מטהר הכל והוא כמו השקה שמטהר שבא הדבר לשורשו כי] כל העולם נברא רק במאמר השי"ת כמ"ש בעשרה מאמרות כו'

Rather, the meaning is that the utterance of Hashem Yisbarach purifies a person, as it is written, "It is not the parah (the Red Heifer) that purifies; rather, it is a chok (decree) that I have decreed" — for [the utterance of Hashem purifies everything, and it is like the hashakah (joining of waters) that purifies, in that the thing is brought back to its root, for] the entire world was created solely through the utterance of Hashem Yisbarach, as it is written, "With ten utterances" (the world was created), and so on.

Rather, "pure" means that Hashem's utterance has the power to purify a person, just as the parah adumah purifies not by its own nature but because Hashem decreed it; and since the whole world was created through Hashem's ten utterances, returning a thing to that creative utterance restores it to its root, like waters that purify by being joined to their source.

רק שבעוה"ז נסתר ונעלם חיות הפנימיות שהוא מאמרו ית'

It is only that in this world the inner life-force — which is His utterance — is hidden and concealed.

The only difficulty is that in this physical world the inner divine life-force animating each thing — the very utterance of Hashem that created it — is hidden from view.

והעצה עי"ז שמתבונן האדם מי צוה כו' גזר כו'

And the counsel for this is that a person should reflect: "Who commanded thus? Who decreed thus?"

The way to uncover it is for a person to contemplate Who it was that commanded and decreed that this thing exist, thereby recognizing the utterance hidden within it.

זה שייך על כל דבר שיש בעל הבית ומשגיח על הכל כמ"ש מי הוא בעל הבירה

This applies to every matter, that there is a Master Who watches over everything, as it is said, "Who is the owner of the palace?"

This contemplation applies to absolutely everything, for there is a Master overseeing all of creation — like the parable of one who sees a lit palace and asks who its owner is, and the owner looks out at him.

ובאמת יש ב' נפלאות בקיום עוה"ז א' מה שיוכל להיות כח לסט"א להתנגד למאמריו ית' זה פלא גדול שנתן השי"ת וע"ז כ' מי גזר כן

And in truth there are two wonders in the existence of this world: one, that there can be power given to the sitra achra (the "other side," the forces of impurity) to oppose His utterances — this is a great wonder that Hashem Yisbarach instituted, and concerning this is written, "Who decreed thus?"

There are two astonishing features of this world's existence: the first is that Hashem granted the sitra achra the power to stand in opposition to His utterances, which is itself a wondrous arrangement that Hashem established, hinted at in "Who decreed thus?"

ומי צוה הוא הכח שנתן השי"ת לישראל שיוכלו להמשיך חיות מאמרותיו תוך עוה"ז הנסתר

And "Who commanded?" — this is the power that Hashem Yisbarach gave to Bnei Yisrael, that they are able to draw down the life-force of His utterances into this concealed world.

The second wonder, hinted at in "Who commanded?", is the power Hashem gave specifically to Bnei Yisrael to draw the life-force of His utterances down into this concealed world.

וזה מי צוה שהשי"ת נתן כח לחבר ולדבק הכל להקב"ה ע"י המצות כמ"ש במ"א

And this is "Who commanded?" — that Hashem Yisbarach gave the power to join and to cleave everything to the Holy One, Blessed is He, by means of the mitzvos, as is written elsewhere.

This drawing-down is accomplished through the mitzvos, by which Hashem empowered us to attach and bind all of creation back to the Holy One, Blessed is He.

וע"י התבוננות הנ"ל מחזיר הכל לשורשו ובא טהרה

And by means of the aforementioned reflection, one returns everything to its root, and purity comes.

When a person engages in this reflection and performs the mitzvos, he returns each thing to its divine root, and through that return purity is achieved.

וזה שנקרא חוקה כמ"ש חק נתן ולא יעבור שהוא הבריאה והטבע שהכל בכח מאמרו ית' וכח המאמר נחקק ומקיים הכל

And this is what is called a chok, as it is written, "He set a chok (a fixed law) that shall not pass away" — namely, the creation and nature, that everything exists by the power of His utterance, and the power of the utterance is engraved and sustains everything.

This is the inner meaning of the word chok: nature and creation are a fixed, engraved law that does not lapse, because everything subsists by the power of Hashem's utterance, which is engraved into it and continually sustains it.

ולשון חקיקה וכתיבה הוא בדבר המתנגד כמ"ש אש שחורה ע"ג אש לבנה

And the expression of engraving and writing applies specifically to a thing set against an opposing medium, as it is said, "black fire upon white fire" (the Torah engraved as black fire upon white fire).

The very terms "engraving" and "writing" imply a base or medium that resists and stands against the inscription, as in the teaching that the Torah was written as black fire upon white fire — the contrast itself makes the engraving possible.

וזה הכח מהתורה שנגנז גם בכל מעשה גשמיי נק' חוקה כנ"ל

And this power, which is from the Torah and which is concealed even within every physical deed, is called a chok, as explained above.

This concealed power of the Torah, which lies hidden even inside every physical act, is precisely what the word chok denotes.

וע"ז נברא האדם להמשיך חיות הנ"ל בכל דבר ע"י התבוננות כנ"ל

And for this was man created — to draw down the aforementioned life-force into every matter by means of reflection, as explained above.

Man's very purpose is to reveal and draw this hidden divine life-force into every aspect of the world through such contemplation.

ואיתא חק לישנא דמזוני כמ"ש (לתת) [*ואכלו] את חקם כו'

And it is taught that chok is an expression denoting sustenance (food), as it is written, "and they shall eat their chok" (their allotted portion), and so on.

The word chok also connotes sustenance, as in "and they shall eat their chok," their fixed allotment of food — tying the concept of the engraved decree to the flow of nourishment.

שנקודה הנ"ל מקיימת כל העולמות ונותנת תמיד חיות ושפע ברכה לכל דבר והוא נקודה המדבקת הכל בשורש החיות כנ"ל:

For the aforementioned point sustains all the worlds and continually gives life-force and the flow of blessing to every matter; and it is the point that binds everything to the root of the life-force, as explained above.

This is because that inner point — the engraved utterance — is what sustains all the worlds, perpetually channeling life-force and blessing into everything, since it is the point that binds all of creation to the root of its life-force.

Summary: In this piece on Chukas, the Sfas Emes explains the Midrash on "the words of Hashem are pure words" to mean that Hashem's creative utterance has the power to purify, restoring each thing to its root in the ten utterances through which the world was made. In this world that inner life-force is hidden, so a person's avodah is to contemplate "Who commanded and Who decreed?" — recognizing the Master overseeing all and the divine utterance concealed within every thing. He develops the word chok in several layers: it is the engraved, fixed law of nature that sustains creation by the power of Hashem's utterance, and "engraving" specifically implies an opposing medium, like the Torah written as black fire upon white fire, which parallels the wonder that the sitra achra was granted power to oppose Hashem's word. Against that opposition, Hashem gave Bnei Yisrael the corresponding power, through the mitzvos, to draw the life-force of His utterances down into the concealed world and bind everything back to the Holy One, Blessed is He. Finally, since chok also denotes sustenance, the Sfas Emes teaches that this inner point continually channels life-force and the flow of blessing into all the worlds, for it is what binds every thing to the root of its life.